Thai Food and The King of Culinary Rock...

"I think they're all a bunch of c***s..."

The asterisks may cover the gender of the genitalia in question but one thing is for sure: Keith Floyd was never one to mince his words.

Keith gave this touching reciprocation of affection about his fellow celebrity chefs in his last interview with Keith Allen aired on 14 September 2009. It may not have been his epitaph but given that Keith was to pass away that very same day it resonated as a statement of his approach to, and his effect on, the world of TV cooking.

Now I'm not gonna' lie - I might love cooking but Floyd was actually a generation before me. I knew the name of course but by the time I hit university and was really watching a lot of food TV (what else was I meant to do ? Study ?!) it was the likes of Jamie and Gordon who were beginning to catch my attention. One was Naked and the other was reaching his Boiling Point and both seemed more relevant to me than their predecessors.

But with various tributes about Floyd now appearing in the press and on the television I've discovered not so much the original celebrity chef but perhaps the original rockstar chef. Floyd simply didn't give a rat's arse what people thought of him and whilst Jamie was still in nappies and Gordon barely even simmering he was taking food TV out of the studio and into the wilderness. The notion of Ainsley getting half cut on Can't Cook, Won't Cook is unthinkable but to Floyd the ubiquitous glass of wine was a trademark. I find myself watching his shows with the same nervous anticipation you might expect from an olympic figure skating final: will they win gold or will they end up splayed across the ice ?

To me its the honest, unscripted passion for food that fascinates me about Floyd and its to this that I humbly aspire in my own cooking. I'm not going to over-egg the pudding here - Keith would just tell me to "bloody well get on with it man" so for the uninitiated here are a couple of clips of the great man:

Start with this one - a classic scene where Floyd gets told in no uncertain terms by a French Madame that his food is not up to scratch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfm4en3SC3I

Then the final interview itself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAbnIV2lsQ0

My most recent inspiration was Far Flung Floyd on his travels around Thailand so last week I cooked Thai for a few friends - mussaman curry and the classic moo pad grapow - here's to you Floyd !